Police confirm van found on fire in Corralitos was associated with Wednesday's shooting of 12-year-old

SANTA CRUZ - Santa Cruz police have confirmed that a van found on fire Thursday was the one they were seeking in connection with a fatal shooting on San Lorenzo Boulevard.

Joey Mendoza, 12, was gunned down Wednesday as he walked from football practice to his grandmother's Bixby Street home around 8 p.m. Police were seeking both a black Lexus with silver lettering and a white van that was reported stolen from Amesti Road on Wednesday morning.

Police have said a light-skinned Latino man was seen getting out of the van and into the black Lexus before the Lexus took off toward the Boardwalk.

Santa Cruz Police Chief Rick Martinez said the van had been stripped of its license plate and VIN before being set on fire.

Santa Cruz police spokesman Zach Friend said Friday that investigators had confirmed that it was the van that was on the scene of the shooting.

At this time it is not known whether the shots were fired from the van or another vehicle, Friend said.

Investigators are still working to determine how many people were in the car from which shots were fired, and have not released any suspect descriptions at this time.

Mendoza's family on Thursday recalled the teen as a fashion-conscious, funny boy who had recently begun playing football and was looking forward to his first game Saturday. They disputed claims by police that Mendoza had gotten involved with gang culture and had had run-ins with the law.

Martinez said Mendoza had been approached to join the department's PRIDE program, which pairs at-risk kids with mentors and provides other guidance but he'd declined. Counselors from the county's alternative education programs had also been working with Mendoza, according to Bryan Wall, deputy superintendent for the county Office of Education.